UNFTR Weekly Roundup

Don’t forget to join us on Bluesky!

Max Notes

Happy New Year, Unf*ckers. I hope you celebrated responsibly and stockpiled some sleep and resources to tackle 2025. There were ominous signs all around and even a hint that god does indeed have a sense of humor in the darkest of times when a Tesla Cybertruck exploded outside of a Trump hotel in Las Vegas. A man perished and others sustained injuries so I’m not making light of a morbid situation; but a burned out Tesla beneath a gold-plated Trump sign is about as fitting as it gets.

We’re going to bring in the New Year by building on our closing themes of 2024, specifically the non-negotiables we put forward in our last episode. These are elements of a proper leftist movement that can serve as a foundation for rebuilding left alliances and coalitions. A lot can come from these conversations and several of you offered meaningful feedback that we can incorporate moving forward. This is where our conversations can turn to praxis.

The first non-negotiable we’ll be tackling is housing as a right. A report on homelessness released at the end of every year revealed that homelessness reached an all-time high with more than 770,000 Americans experiencing homelessness at the benchmark moment. But there were bright spots in the report that were largely overlooked by the corporate media, which seized upon information in the report regarding an increase in undocumented migrants. Many of the bright spots were directly correlated to the “Housing First” movement that has been successfully implemented in several cities and within agencies like the Veteran’s Administration.

So lots more to come on this and our other non-negotiables as we create a framework to build consensus around these items and add more to the equation as time goes on.

I’m looking to release the housing episode next weekend when the podcast returns for the 2025 season but I’m working on several other UNFTR initiatives and episode outlines in the meantime. I have thoughts on developments in Latin America as it relates to U.S. economic development and immigration, the coming AI employment apocalypse and, of course, we’ll have to roll with the punches from Herr Trump.

I can’t wait to get started on this next season with you all. Thank you for your generous support and collaboration in 2024. Let’s see if we can up the ante this year and be a productive part of the reimagined Left.

Other things I’m obsessing over…

Bob Menendez, loving husband.
Honey, do not f--k with the Legal Eagle.
Doug Stanhope has zero fucks to give.

-Max

Chart of the Week

AI infrastructure spending drove explosive growth in Nvidia’s data center segment. Q3FY25 (Nvidia's most recently reported quarter) is over 30 billion. Q2FY25 was just above 25 billion.

Source: GlobalXETFs

Keep this in mind as we tackle the AI employment apocalypse. The volume of money being poured into AI development is like nothing we’ve seen in over a generation. Much of it is related to computing power and server infrastructures. Microsoft announced that it is going to invest another $85 billion in 2025 to bolster its data centers, with more than half going into the United States. As you can see from Nvidia’s performance and forecast, these server farms are big business. They’re also a climate disaster in the making, which seems to be fading from the hyped-up coverage around generative AI.

Headlines

Don’t call it a comeback. No, seriously. Don’t come back.

As a New Yorker I can tell you firsthand that whatever scheme Anthony Weiner and Andrew Cuomo try to run to rebuild their reputations and return to public life is fucking bullshit. These are criminally infected misogynists of the highest order and the Democratic Party needs to erect (pun intended for Weiner) a barricade to prevent this from happening.

From the article:

“The downfalls of these men were never the result of one-off mistakes or fleeting errors of judgment that could justify the case for a second chance. Instead, Cuomo and Weiner—and, perhaps more crucially, their reported interests in returning to government—are symptomatic of what ails many men: a refusal to be held accountable, with barely a concern given to those left hurt. We see this play out all the time.”

Mother Jones: Monsters of 2024: Anthony Weiner and Andrew Cuomo

We Need To Keep Shining a Light on Gaza

Every day we lose a bit more of our humanity. While it’s almost impossible to imagine a turn for the better in Gaza with Trump at the helm, we must continue to talk about this atrocity.

From the article:

“Six people have frozen to death in Gaza during the past week, where the low temperatures have reached the low 40s in Fahrenheit—or about 8 degrees Celsius; five were infants less than a month old. Al-Batraan’s newborn baby will not be the last to die from hypothermia as conditions continue to deteriorate in the besieged territory.”

Drop Site: What It’s Truly Like to Sleep in a Damp, Frigid Tent: A Report From Gaza

Michael, We’re Bigger Than U.S. Steel. (For Now.)

U.S. Steel is an iconic American company. It’s also for sale. On the way out the door, President Biden blocked a potential sale to Japan-based Nippon. It’s union v. board and for now the union prevailed. Stay tuned for the next chapter.

From the article:

“The politics of Mr. Biden’s decision were clear: U.S. Steel is based in the crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, and its powerful union vehemently opposed the proposed takeover, in part over concerns that Nippon would not honor its commitments to invest in plants and preserve the pensions of workers. The public debate over the acquisition emerged as a key issue ahead of the 2024 presidential election, and Mr. Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and President-elect Donald J. Trump all publicly said that U.S. Steel should remain American-owned.”

New York Times: Biden Blocks Takeover Bid of U.S. Steel by Japan’s Nippon

Resources

Pod Love

“The last show of 2024 from an undisclosed cabin in the woods. Francesca takes some time to look back at the intense debate with Cenk Uygur and his new approach to the right.”

The Bitchuation Room: NYE Special Show! Breaking Down Cenk Debate

99’s Book Love

I got this for my roommate as a holiday gift. Very excited to read it when she’s done! Sheffield is a storied Rolling Stone journalist, and my favorite thing about him is how he unabashedly loves Swift with no pretense. It’s not “girl music” or “just pop music” to him. It’s real music with real impact. I think even the Swiftie neutrals and haters out there would come around after giving this book a read.

“Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music is the first book that goes deep on the musical and cultural impact of Taylor Swift. Nobody can tell the story like Rob Sheffield, the bestselling and award-winning author of Dreaming the Beatles, On Bowie, and Love Is a Mix Tape. The legendary Rolling Stone journalist is the writer who has chronicled Taylor for every step of her long career, from her early days to the Eras Tour. Sheffield gets right to the heart of Swift and her music, her lyrics, her fan connection, her raw power.”

Heartbreak Is the National Anthem: How Taylor Swift Reinvented Pop Music by Rob Sheffield